NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Microplastics in the Marine Food Web

该行动为2020财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，使用生物收集的研究。该研究金支持研究员的研究和培训，以创新的方式利用生物收藏。微塑料（尺寸小于5毫米的塑料颗粒）是海洋环境中普遍存在的污染物，当捕食者食用摄入了微塑料的猎物时，它们会在捕食者体内积累。幼鱼是许多海洋掠食者的重要猎物，如人类赖以为生的鱼类和无脊椎动物。因此，幼鱼摄入微塑料对整个海洋食物网、渔业和水产养殖部门以及人类健康都有影响。然而，人们对幼鱼摄入微塑料的情况知之甚少。利用过去30年的幼鱼收集，该研究员将调查过去和现在幼鱼的微塑料摄入，以更好地了解幼鱼捕食者中微塑料积累的潜力，并研究可能影响微塑料摄入的幼鱼特征。此外，该研究员还将帮助改进识别微塑料的常用方法，指导独立研究项目的本科生，并创建微塑料教育和外展活动。该研究员将利用罗格斯大学海洋野外站30年的（1989-2019）幼鱼收集，以阐明（i）丰度和特征（类型[主要与次要]、化学成分、颜色、大小、形式[纤维、碎片等]）微塑料进入海洋食物网较低营养级的数量随时间发生变化;（ii）生物生态特征（发育阶段、产卵地点、摄食策略）是否影响微塑料摄入量。为了解决这些研究问题，选择Anchoa mitchilli（海湾红鱼），Brevoortia fabrennus（大西洋鲱鱼），Menidia menidia（大西洋银汉鱼）和Micropogonias undulatus（大西洋黄鱼）从所有三十年的收集将化学消化后，有效地消化有机材料，但不是塑料的标准化协议。热解-气相色谱-质谱（py-GC-MS）、傅里叶变换红外光谱和拉曼光谱将用于确定任何分离的微塑料的化学组成。除了解决这些研究问题外，该研究员还将与行业科学家合作，开发降低py-GC-MS微塑料尺寸检测限的方法，通过促进STEM多样性和包容性的研究实习计划指导两名本科生，并创建一个研究-基于微塑料的活动，帮助公众概念化微塑料的大小和微塑料问题的广泛规模。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. Microplastics (plastic particles smaller than 5 mm in size) are a prevalent pollutant in the marine environment that can accumulate in predators when they consume prey items that have ingested microplastics. Larval (young) fishes are important prey for many marine predators such as the fishes and invertebrates that humans rely on for food. Thus, the intake of microplastics by larval fishes has implications for the entire marine food web, fisheries and aquaculture sectors, and human health. Yet, little is known about the ingestion of microplastics by larval fishes. Using a larval fish collection spanning the last 30 years, the fellow will investigate microplastic ingestion in larval fish from past and present to better understand the potential for microplastic accumulation in larval fish predators and examine larval fish characteristics that may influence microplastic ingestion. In addition, the fellow will help improve methods commonly used to identify microplastics, mentor undergraduate students on independent research projects, and create a microplastics education and outreach activity.The fellow will utilize the Rutgers University Marine Field Station’s 30-year (1989-2019) larval fish collection to elucidate (i) if abundances and characteristics (type [primary vs. secondary], chemical composition, color, size, form [fiber, fragment, etc.]) of microplastics entering lower trophic levels of the marine food web have changed over time and (ii) whether organismal ecological traits (developmental stage, spawning location, feeding strategy) influence microplastic intake. In order to address these research questions, select Anchoa mitchilli (Bay anchovy), Brevoortia tyrannus (Atlantic menhaden), Menidia menidia (Atlantic silverside), and Micropogonias undulatus (Atlantic croaker) from all thirty years of the collection will be chemically digested following a standardized protocol that efficiently digests organic material, but not plastics. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (py-GC-MS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy will be used to determine the chemical composition of any isolated microplastics. In addition to addressing these research questions, the fellow will work with industry scientists to develop methods to lower microplastic size detection limits for py-GC-MS, mentor two undergraduate students through research internship programs that promote diversity and inclusion in STEM, and create a research-based microplastics activity that helps the public conceptualize the size of microplastics and the expansive scale of the microplastics problem.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.